Tree of Life: A Poem

[I]t is impossible to speak of the history of something before we know the thing itself...
Retrieved by Pat Darnell


Behold that before the emanations were emanated and the creatures were created,

The Upper Simple Light had filled the whole existence.

And there was no vacancy, such as an empty air, a hollow,

But all was filled with that Simple, Boundless Light.

And there was no such part as head, or end,

But everything was One, Simple Light, balanced evenly and equally,

And it was called “the Light of Ein Sof (Infinity).”

And when upon His simple will, came the desire to create the worlds and emanate the emanations,

To bring to light the perfection of His deeds, His names, His appellations,

Which was the cause of the creation of the worlds,

Then the Ein Sof restricted Himself, in His middle point, precisely at the center,

And He restricted that Light, and drew far off to the sides around that middle point.

And there remained an empty space, an empty air, a vacuum

Precisely from the middle point.

And that restriction was equally around that empty, middle point,

So that the space was evenly circled around it.

And after the restriction, when the vacant space remained empty

Precisely in the middle of the Light of Ein Sof,

A place was formed, where the Emanations, Creations, Formations, and Actions might reside.

Then from the Light of Ein Sof, a single line hung down from Above, lowered into that space.

And through that line, He emanated, created, formed, and made all the worlds.

Prior to these four worlds, there was one Light of Ein Sof, whose Name is One, in wondrous, hidden unity,

And even in the angles closest to Him

There is no force and no attainment in The Ein Sof,

As there is no mind of a created that could attain Him,

For He has no place, no boundary, no name.

The Ari, The Tree of Life, Part One, Gate One


LINK:
http://www.kabbalah.info/eng/content/view/frame/2854?/eng/content/view/full/2854&main

The greatest contemporary Kabbalists, Rav Yehuda Ashlag, and his son and successor, Rav Baruch Ashlag, provide valid answers to life’s most fundamental question: “What is the meaning of my life?” Based on their interpretations of The Book of Zohar, and The Tree of Life, we can now learn how to benefit from the wisdom of Kabbalah on a day-to-day basis.

In addition to authentic texts by these great Kabbalists, this book offers illustrations that accurately depict the evolution of the Upper Worlds as Kabbalists experience them, as well as several helpful essays to enhance our understanding of the texts.

In Kabbalah for the Student, Rav Michael Laitman, PhD, Rav Baruch Ashlag’s personal assistant and prime student, compiled all the texts a Kabbalah student would need in order to attain the spiritual worlds. In his daily lessons, Rav Laitman bases his teaching on these inspiring texts, thus helping novices and veterans alike to better understand the spiritual path we undertake on our fascinating journey to the Higher Realms.

Personal Study Prayer

Heavenly Father, God the Creator, Almighty One ... today I wonder why I have been so nonspiritual all my life. How did I miss those lessons that explained how our unseen spiritual world is structured?

I remember being a child, happy running and playing all day long. Then I became a young man with deeper thoughts. But somehow I remained shallow, and silly, and without knowledge of wisdom or of workings of the spirit. However, as I got older I did begin praying for wisdom.

For me some of  what I read sticks with me. And, I had read in Proverbs that some things must be prayed for diligently, for instance, wisdom requires much prayer.

I cherish the wisdom that came to me from my prayers. I held wisdom close to my chest to warm my heart, until one day wisdom became part of my heart. It was like a motor turned on, and my body was changed.

But I stopped there for some reason. I suppose I was satisfied with this. It is good to be satisfied with some things. And I lived for many years happy in this, though suspecting I was incomplete.

It turns out, I am given long life; and, I found later as a man becoming a father, that I needed many more skills, like long-suffering, loving-kindness, purity and salvation, and things of the spirit.

It was then I learned how impatient I had become in asking for these spiritual gifts that I thought I was entitled to. I began looking for short-cuts. During this time, it turns out, I prayed most often asking the Holy Spirit to fill me, my wife, and our children.

You see I was confused, not about the Holy Spirit; but, enlightenment still takes much prayer, and patience in obtaining... I forgot the lesson I had learned on Wisdom.

Back then work days were long, bothersome, fractured, rising and falling. It seemed I went to battle everyday. I became very tired of fighting with everyone, everything, and with being angry. I noticed that when in a state of anger, I am furthest one can get from the Father ....

Anger lasted too many years during family raising. I was very bad, judgmental and belligerent, sloven and coward, and often totally outlandish. Seldom was I wise anymore, and again I stood incomplete for many years. I seek another chance for wising up:

Father, make me an instrument of your peace;
Fill me with the white light of the Christ Mind
Make me a good steward of your gifts
Help me to know what I suspect --
That you have filled the world with Mercy, and,
You seek from me fruit of your Spirit,
that you love us all and want us to live.
AMEN.

Thesis of Truth and Purity from the Zohar

Do we achieve Spirituality?

" ...
We see that in our world one cannot advance with the help of the pure forces. On the contrary, it is his egoistic aspirations that provide man with the strength to conquer everything in the world. How often do we see fervent fanatics immersed in their impure desires to capture for themselves both this world and the next, whereas one that aspires to the Creator has no strength for even a slightest spiritual movement! In our world there is no proof or confirmation that man advances on the right path. And under no circumstances should one draw conclusions based on one’s life experience or “common sense.”

So how can a person in this world exist and advance towards the Goal of creation if he is unable to tell good from bad, pure from impure? There is one sign by which one can distinguish purity from impurity: impure forces bear no spiritual fruit. Thus, those that advance through the impure worlds ABYA do not attain anything spiritual, whereas those who are connected to the pure forces reap spiritual fruit on their path.

As it is explained in the “Introduction to The Study of Ten Sefirot” (items 19-23), if man advances along the right path, he attains the secrets of the Torah in three to five years. The Creator helps those who wish to acquire altruistic desires over and above their own requests, and thus one attains the desired goal. From below, man aspires to the Creator with his small desire (MAN), and from Above, the Creator pours onto him tremendous spiritual desires and strength (MAD). [SOURCE] ... "

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23. When the Creator thought to create the world, all the letters of the alphabet came to Him in reverse order from last (Tav) to first (Aleph). The letter Tav entered first and said, “Master of the world! It is good, and also seemly of You, to create the world with me, with my properties. For I am the seal on Your ring, called EmeT (truth), that ends with the letter Tav. And that is why You are called truth, and why it would befit the King to begin the universe with the letter Tav, and to create the world by her, by her properties.

The Creator answered: “You are beautiful and sincere, but do not merit the world that I conceived to be created by your properties, since you are destined to be marked on the foreheads of the truly faithful who fulfill all of Torah from Aleph to Tav (from the first letter to the last), and perished because of you” (Talmud Bavli, Shabbat, 55)

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" ... We cannot imagine the spiritual world because our sensory organs cannot detect it. Thus, to describe the objects and concepts still unattainable by us, Kabbalists use several techniques, languages. The whole Torah speaks only of the creation, governing, and correction of the world; never about history, geography, or anything else. As it is said in the Torah itself, the Torah is the sacred names, that is, manifestations of the Creator, the degrees and methods of His attainment.

Kabbalists, those who ascend to the spiritual world and thus establish direct contact with the Creator, convey this information to us using four languages:

• The language of the TaNaKh (Torah – Pentateuch, Nevi’im – Prophets, Ketuvim – Writings/Hagiographa). This is the language of the written Torah.
• The language of laws.
• The language of legends.
• The language of Sefirot and Partzufim – the language of Kabbalah.

All the languages speak about the same thing – the attainment of the Creator by us, those living in this world. For this is the sole purpose of our creation, and according to the Creator’s design, we must devote all of our physical, mental, and spiritual abilities only to it. And if we were to aspire only to this, we would naturally use our language only for this purpose. After all, everything that is given to us is only for the fulfillment of this exclusive goal – the attainment of the sensation of the Creator, while still in this life. ... "

The Hebrew Alphabet

THE LETTERS OF THE HEBREW ALPHABET

The letters Aleph and Ayin do not have any particular sound, and only the accompanying punctuation mark determines their pronunciation.

The letters Bet, Chaf and Peh with a dot inside them are pronounced as “b,” “k,” and “p.” The absence of a dot changes their pronunciation to “v,” “ch” and “f.”

The letter Hey is not pronounced, but rather aspirated.

The shapes of the letters Mem, Nun, Tzadik, Peh, Chaf (pronounced MANTZEPACH) change when placed at the end of a word, as seen in the table of letters.

The shape, external form of letters: the protruding element of a letter indicates that the Light in this part of the letter is greater than in the other. The filling (Miluy) indicates the height of the degree. A punctuation mark (Nikud) indicates the origin of each part of the Partzuf: whether it came from the Upper Partzuf (and constitutes its part in the present one), from the lower Partzuf, or from itself.

The Kelim-Sefirot themselves are called “letters,” and their punctuation marks (Nekudot) indicate the Light that enters and exits them. The Light of Bina, ZA, and Malchut can enter the Kelim, but the Light of Keter or Hochma cannot. A dot above a letter (Holam) signifies the Lights Keter and Hochma, which never clothe the Kli, hence the location of the dot above the letter. (SOURCE)

Methods of the Serpent

This mystery is conveyed in the words of the scriptures: NOW THE SERPENT
WAS MORE SUBTLE THAN ANY OTHER WILD CREATURE THAT YHVH
ELOHIM HAD MADE. The awful serpent wanted to realize his goal: to defile
the upper holiness by beginning to contaminate man here in the lower world.
Recognizing the manner of construction of all the courses of water, he
understood that causing the water of a stream to be briny would, in effect,
reach all the way to the great sea. That is why he came to seduce man down
here (on earth): in order to intercept the inferior watercourses with the major
ones. The serpent had thus brought on the death of the world. He emanated
from the left side. He was able to furtively enter the interior of man. But
there is another serpent which emanated from the right side. Both serpents
accompany man throughout his life.